I was at the Service Center in Jackson Center this week. One of the jobs that caught my attention was a technician re-attaching the foam backed vinyl headline in an AS 34. The scope of work was the total headliner from one end to the other The tech was using a 2 part 3M product that I don't remember the name of. I had read on the forum that you could not re-attach this type of headliner. It looks like the service center has figured out how to make this work.

When I was at JC a couple of years ago, I asked the question about how they replace the vinyl headliner. The answer was they remove the cabinetry and whatever is in the way and then pull down the old headliner. They spend minimal time cleaning off the remnants of that old headliner. They then rivet up a layer of new aluminum sheeting right over the existing aluminum ceiling and glue the new headliner to that new aluminum that they just installed. The service advisor said the added thickness of the new aluminum sheet is minimal and not noticeable. They do it that way to save a lot of time. I don't think you can reglue old headliner. The foam is usually very deteriorated. I replaced one section of vinyl headliner in my old Classic and removed all the old glue before putting up the new headliner. It was a lot of work. Russ

Could you tell whether they were reattaching the headliner, or installing new after having cleaned and prepped the inside.

Thanks for the report.

Pat

According to the Tech, he was reattaching the original headliner without removing the old headliner. When I spoke to the tech performing the work, the arching plastic bows had been removed but nothing else that holds up the headliner had been removed (vent / fan trim, etc..). The trim attaching the horizontal edges of the headliner were still attached. The headliner was sagging considerably after the arching plastic bows were removed. The tech was in the prep phase of the job. I did not ask for more details. I did not want to keep the tech from his work.

I told him I had always heard that you could not re-glue an old headliner. He said they could re-glue the old one using the 3M product they have. He also said it was considerably cheaper to re-glue the old headliner vs. installing a new headliner.

I suggest calling the Service Center and ask Chris about the details of the process and the price if you are interested.

The tech (Bill) said he was going to use a two-part 3M product. The foam backing on the headliner looked to be in good shape. Maybe the good condition of the foam is why JC feels that this headliner can be re-glued.